the real him
by Touch The Dark
Summary: instead of buffy dying at the end of the gift, she is sent back to 1875 and finds out something about spike that could change her view of him forever. please review
1. Chapter 1

**1875**

None of the characters in this story belong to me.

Buffy turns. In slow-motion, she runs down the platform as Dawn stays there crying.

Buffy swan-dives off the end of the platform and into the portal.

Dawn watches, sobbing.

Buffy falls into the portal and hangs there motionless, making expressions of pain. All

of a sudden Buffy landed with a thud on a cobbled street. She looked around her in

confusion. _Where the hell am i? _Buffy thought as she stood wiping the mud from her

face. She noticed there were horse and carts and the people were dressed strangely. As

she began to look around a man in a blue uniform and hat started yelling at her.

"You there!" the man yelled

She turned around to him and gave him a 'what' look.

"Yes, you there...what do you think you are doing?" He asked

Buffy hesitated in answering.

"Um...well you see-" she said before she was cut off.

"Are you a woman of the night?" he asked

"No...whats a woman of the night? Are you a police officer?" she asked confused

The man began to circle her.

" As it happens, yes I am... a woman of the night is a whore, prostitute." the officer replied

Buffy was fuming at his remark and looked herself up and down. She was wearing a

white low-cut, long sleeved jumper and a pair of grey trousers.

"What makes you think that?" she asked

"For a start, the clothes you are wearing and you are out on the streets at night." he said

Then there was a screaming from an alley.

"Excuse me miss but I must see what is going on." he said while running off towards

the screaming. Buffy just looked at the running officer and then went in search of

evidence of what time she was in. She saw a paper on the fllor in a puddle and

all she could make out was ' London, Tuesday, 13th May 1875'. Buffy's eyes widened

as she realised what time she was in.

"I've gone back a century!" she screamed.

What do you think? please review i had to delete the story and re-do it as i got my dates mixed up (sorry) but i have deleted the old version and posted the new version, please enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

**William Thornton**

Still reeling from just finding out what time she was in, Buffy wandered around the streets of London. It was pouring down with rain and she was increasingly scared of what had happened. _How did I get here? What happened to Glory?...Oh god, Dawn...MY FRIENDS! _Buffy thought as she shook her head to try and get her focus back. She came across a building. It had a wooden door, with a metal handle on and a sign that read ' The tavern.' so she shrugged her shoulders and walked in. The room smelt of beer and cigars and as she walked to the bar many people stared at her. A man turned to her and looked at her in disgust.

"Sorry miss but I do not like working girls in MY tavern," he said with a crude smile creeping up on his face.

She racked her brain for a response, but the man turned his attention to a man that had turned up at the bar.

" Mr. Thornton what can I get you?" the barman asked

"Oh the regular, please Edward." the young man said

Buffy head turned towards him and she instantly reconised him. Spike. She moved away from him and he looked at her and whispered something to the barman, but she could hear him.

"Working girl?" he asked

_That is it! i've had enough of them thinking i'm a hooker _she thought.

In that she walked towards Mr. Thornton.

"Can I ask you a question?" she said

Startled by the sweet, yet angrily sounding voice he responded.

"If you may." came his reply

"Why does everyone here think that I'm a working girl, without even speaking to me?" she asked

"Why it is the way you are dressed, miss?" he asked as in to ask her name

"Summers, Elizabeth Summers." she replied

She giggled to herself at the thought that how James Bond that had sounded.

"Well, Miss Summers, you are dressed like a working girl, so one would assume you were, are you not a working girl?" he asked looking her up and down, taking in every detail of her small body.

"NO!... I mean, no I am not, I was travelling on a ship and my luggage got lost... I simply borrowed these clothes off a WORKING GIRL." she answered his question

"Well, that clears everything up doesn't it." he said while smiling, then continued to speak.

"Oh how rude of me, my name is William Thornton, but you can call me Mr Thornton or William or whatever you like...um." he was feeling nervous. such a beautiful creature to grace his presence, but that wasn't all that was bothering him.

His line of work was bothering him.

Please review, what do you think?


	3. Chapter 3

**Killings**

William and Buffy were sitting at a table in the tavern talking to eachother. William was a bit twitchy and uneasy for some reason. _wonder what is wrong with him? _Buffy thought. She took a sip of her drink as he began to speak.

" So Miss Summers, tell me more about yourself," William said with interest

" Call me Elizabeth, well I am 20 years old, I have a sister called Dawn...she is 15, my mum reccently passed away...," she said sadly

William patted her arm gently.

" I am sorry to hear that, was it consumption?" he asked

" O no...was something wrong in her brain...they operated but...she ended up dying two weeks afterwards." she said with tears in her eyes

William looked at her and brushed the tears away from her cheek.

"She will be in heaven an-," he said as a woman burst in and rushed towards him.

"WILLIAM!Oh there you are!" the woman said frantically

" Emily, what is it? Is it mother?" the man asked worried about his mother

" No, mother is quite fine...I see you have company," Emily said motioning towards Buffy

" Oh, this is Elizabeth," he said proudly

" Well if you are quite finished assiocating with filth we have a BIG problem," she said snorting her nose

" HEY! I am not filth, let me guess you think I am a working girl? Well I'm not!" Buffy screeched

William sighed and looked at his sister angrily, but then let his anger flow from him. He then turned to Buffy and gave her a sweet smile.

" I am terribly sorry but I have some business to attend to, you do not mind if I leave?" he asked

" No of course not," she said beaming a smile at him

William scratched his head and ran his hand through his brown hair.

" Maybe we can meet again?" he asked hopefully

" Possibly," she said

Emily rolled her eyes at the scene that was unfolding before her and grabbed hold of her big brother's arm.

"We have business to attend to, how do you ever expect to get ANYTHING done while you are-," she said whilst dragging him out the tavern not giving him or Buffy a chance to say goodbye, leaving Buffy looking amused. _Well that was interesting_ she thought and decided to go out after them to see what the problem was. Emily dragged William to the alley next to the tavern and began to speak and Buffy hid behind the wall just so she was in reach to hear.

" Three bodies were found early this evening on Baker street, two men and a woman," Emily said with fear clearly in her voice.

"Oh dear lord...," he said covering his mouth with his hand

Buffy listened intensly.

"The worst part is their eyes were ripped out and they had some form of symbol carved on their foreheads...(took out a tissue) this is what it looked like," she said whilst passing William the tissue. The symbol was of a star, with an eye in the middle and at each point of the star was a different symbol. A cresent, some sort of dagger with thorns coming out of it, one of a snake, one of a hand that had a ring on it's index finger and the last one was of a magic staff, with an orb in the middle. He took his glasses off to take a closer look and then passed the tissue back to his sister.

Rubbing his temple he began to speak.

"OK..go find Liam, David and Mr. Collins and get looking in the books for stuff that rips eyes out and look for that symbol too," he said commandingly

" What are you going to do? she asked

" I am going to look for these people or whatever did this...we cannot take any risks," he said

He turned to leave the alley when she touched his arm.

"William, do be careful," Emily said to him with concern in her eyes

" I will," he said planting a kiss on her cheek and then walking out of the alley. Buffy ran as fast as she could out of his view. _this sounds like a job for me_ she thought. She headed in the direction that William had headed in. She made sure that she kept a fair bit of distance between them as she did not want to get caught. It was not raining any more and there was a slight breeze in the air. She hid behind a tree as he went into a house. She kept her eye on the front door for signs of him coming back out. A few minutes later, William had come back out of the house with a large axe. It looked like an ancient weapon of some sort. All she could do was stare at him. He had a look of anger on his face as he mutter something to himself.

"Looks like someone has a death wish," he said walking away from the house, not realising he had someone following him.

Please review and give me your opinion. promise there will be eventual spuffy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Where did she go?**

The scooby gang were all standing round the spot where Buffy's body should be. The sun was rising, which meant Spike had to be careful where he was standing. Giles just stared at the spot, Tara and Willow hugged each other, as did Anya and Xander, Spike just kneeled down near the spot as Dawn appeared from the tower. Tears streaming down her cheeks and she slowly walked towards everyone. Seeing that there was no body, she spoke.

"Where is she?" Dawn asked shakily, trying to fight back the tears.

But no reply came. Dawn became incresingly annoyed. She had lost her mum and just lost her sister, or so she thought.

"If she is dead then where is her body!?!" she screamed breaking down into sobs as Spike came to comfort her into his arms. Giles then took off his glaases and cleaned them.

" Dawn has a good point...if, if Buffy was dead then her body would be here and as it appears, it is not," Giles said

Xander let go of Anya and began to pace.

"So what are you saying? that she is dead or she isn't dead? Come on Giles!," Xander said as Anya began to butt in.

"Um, it is possible that the shimmering portal that Buffy jumped in sent her to a different dimension or in fact a different timeline all together," Anya explained

Willow thought on what the ex demon had said to her and replied.

"You mean she could be stuck in the Past or future?" the witch asked

Dawn sniffled and Spike stroked her hair.

Whispering "Don't worry platelet, they will sort it," he said

Whispering "But she won't come back, it will just be her body," she said

"Yes," Anya said in reply to Willow's previous question

The vampire let go of the teen and headed towards the exit with his coat over him to protect him from the sun.

"Well, what are we waiting for? we have work to do!" Spike yelled and in that everyone followed him out of the building and towards the Magic Box.

sorry this chapter is a bit short but i figured i had to get the scoobies reaction, but please review:)


	5. Chapter 5

**The Hunter and Helmsley**

William headed down the road away from the house with his heavy axe in his hand. he was prepared to go and find whatever killed those people. The thought of what they had done sickened him. In all his years he had never heard of a symbol like that. Buffy was carefully following him, hiding behind whatever she could when a man and a demon walk out of the shadows to face William. William sighed as he saw them approach him when the demon spoke.

"¿Mi nombre es el cazador y éste es mi minion y traductor Helmsley… yo has oído hablar de ti, has oído hablar de mí?" the man said in Spanish

"What did you just say? I do not speak your language," William said confused

As the man came into view William discovered he was a vampire. Buffy fought the temptation to go and get William out of this situation.

"I am sorry...you see my friend here is Spanish, he said 'My name is The hunter and this is my minion and translator Helmsley...i have heard of you, have you heard of me?'" Helmsley said with a cocky smile

"No...how exactly do you know me Mr The Hunter?" William asked with curiosity

Helmsley translates to The Hunter "¿Ningún… cómo me conoces exactamente Sr. The Hunter?" said the vampire

Buffy could not hear what was being said. The Hunter chuckled loudly and began to speak.

"todos, cada demonio y cada vampiro en el mundo sabe quién eres… asesino," he said with a serious tone

Translated by Helmsley "everybody, every demon and every vampire in the the world knows who you are...slayer," he said

William's grip tightened on the axe and he clenched his jaw. He began pacing in front of The Hunter and spoke.

"Well I should of guessed...but do you know what? I haven't got the time for your charade of an attempt to kill me because you haven't even tried!" William yelled at the demon.

Translation by Helmsley "El pozo I debe de conjeturado… pero sabes lo que? ¡No he conseguido la época para tu charada de una tentativa de matarme porque incluso no has intentado!"

The demon flared up at this and suddenly he caught onto Buffy's scent. He began to laugh manically.

"¿Bien, bien, bien… cuál ES ese olor glorioso? ¡salido en mi poco bastante, ningún uso en ocultar del cazador!" he said loudly so whoever was near could hear, but of course Buffy did not understand him. _What did he say? _she thought.

Translation by Helmsley "Well, well, well...what IS that glorious scent? come on out my little pretty, no use in hiding from The Hunter!" Helmsley said as loud as The Hunter did. Buffy panicked as she heard his words. William gave the demon a funny look.

"What are you talking about you idiot?!? there noone else here...what demon are you exactly?" he asked running out of patience. He had a killer to find and every second that he stood there someone else could of been getting murdered.

Helmsley translates "¿Cuáles son tú que habla de ti idiota?!? ¿allí noone aquí… qué demonio es tú exactamente?"

"¡soy lo que llamas un demonio de Fyarl y debes temerme! ¡aprobar entonces… si no vienes a mí… entonces que vendré a ti!" Hunter said

Helmsley translates "i am what you call a Fyarl demon and you should fear me! ok then...if you will not come to me...then i shall come to you!"

With that the Fyarl demon headed towards where Buffy was hiding and grabbed her up off her feet by her collar and brought her out. Scared of William finding out what she was she resisited beating the demon to a pulp. Hunter threw Buffy to the ground in front of William.

"ELIZABETH!" he yelled as he knelt beside her

She rubbed the back of her neck to soothe the pain.

"Are you ok? what are you doing here? Were you following me?" he asked

"I am fine... thank you...and no I was just wandering around trying to find somewhere to stay," she said hesitantly hoping he would believe her.

William helped her up to her feet as the demon spoke.

" ¡Puedo ver que estás actualmente ocupado con OTRAS materias… no ese cuidado de I pero te mataré otro time...com e a lo largo de Helmsley! nos estamos yendo," he said and never gave helmsley the chance to translate what he had just said to him.

William and Buffy looked at the demon and the vampire as they walked away. Dusting herself off she turned to William.

"Well that was good," she said to him

William sighed and looked at her with anger.

"What on earth were you thinking? coming out here at this time of night?" he asked her

" I told you I was just looking for a place to stay," came her reply in a hurt voice

"It is a good job that demon never tried to kill you, you know? because he would of done...look my house is not that far away from here, i can take you there and you can stay there if you like?" he said smiling at the little blonde form in front of him.

"If you do not mind, that would be great," said Buffy

"No of course not it would be my pleasure, come on...this way," William said pointing int he direction of his house

They both walked away towards his house. _Great I will never get to the person that killed those people tonight _William thought.


	6. Chapter 6

**This is Miss Summers**

Emily, Liam, David and Mr Collins sat around a table with a lot of books in front of them. After seeing William and explaining to him about the murders and the symbol, Emily went to find the three men that he had mentioned. Liam was in a pub drinking with his friends, David was at his home drinking a cup of tea and Mr Collins was in his study writing in his Watcher's journal. They had been looking the symbol and the cause of death up for two hours and they had not seen anything yet. Liam huffed and slammed his book close. This made the other jump.

"This is bloody well useless! i have not seen anything resembling this symbol you claimed to have seen," Liam said with his arms crossed

Mr Collins sighed at the boy's comment.

"Yes but it is early days remember?" Mr Collins said

"He is right Liam... maybe William will find whatever has done this and kill it before it gets a chance to do this again," David inquired

Liam scoffed as Emily gave him an evil look.

"And what was that for?" she snarled

" Oh come on, we all know he has not been on his best form now for weeks... I mean he nearly got bit by a vampire the other day," he said coldly

"Yes well we have had a lot on, mother is sick with consumption and along with the slaying he is just feeling the strain, that is all, he will be back on top form in no time, you will see," Emily said with a slight hint with hesitation in her voice

"Let us hope so, Emily," the watcher said

They all nodded in agreement and went back to looking into the symbol.

As William and Buffy entered the house William looked at the grand-father clock in the hallway to see the time; it read: Nine thirty pm. He closed the door and put the axe down. as he did this his mother came down the stairs and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"Oh William i was beginning to get worried," she said

His mother looked at Buffy arkwardly and turned back to her son.

"Who is your lady friend? and why is she dressed like that?" she asked

"Oh mother this is Elizabeth Summers, Elizabeth, this is my mother," he said

Buffy looked at the old lady and offered her hand out to her.

"Nice to meet you Mrs Thornton...I'm sorry if I am dressed inappropeatly," she said whilst looking down at herself. Mrs Thornton took her hand and gently shook it.

" I am sure there is a perfectly good explaination my dear," she offered as in to tell her to say why she was wearing those clothes.

"I lost my luggage on the ship when I was travelling here from America," Buffy explained

"She borrowed her clothes off a working girl, mother," William said

"Well, now that does explain a lot, what part do you come from?" she inquired

"California," she said proudly

The woman looked at the clock and then back at them.

"MARY!" she shouted

A maid came running in as quick as lightening and came to a hault in front of the three.

"Yes Mrs Thornton?" the maid asked

"Would you be a dear and take Miss Summers up into the guest room and make sure she is provided with everything that she needs and is made comfortable?" she said to the young looking maid

"Certainly, Mrs Thornton," she replied

William touched Buffy's arm lightly.

"Make sure you sleep well and I will see you in the morning," William offered with a smile that Buffy so sorely reconised.

"I will,"

William's mother let out a really bad cough and the maid whisked Buffy up to her room. The staircase was grand. Buffy had never seen anything like this in her life, it was so beautiful and ellagent. She could not help but smile. The maid led her into her rrom and began gathering things up for her. A nightgown, underwear, which seemed alarmingly large, a dress for in the morning, soap so that she could get washed.

"Here are all the things you need Miss Summers, If there is anything else do not hessitate in calling me," the maid said looking down at her feet

_This woman is remarkable beautiful, i have never seen anyone like her before _thought the maid.

"Ok, you don't have to call me by my last name, here i have a deal for you, you call me Elizabeth and I'll call you Mary, sound good?" she offered with a wiggle of her eyebrows and a smile that could light up anyones day.

"Ok, you have a deal...Elizabeth," the maid said giving her an equally good smile

"Ok then, that is that, make sure Mrs Thornton is ok, i mean she sounded like she was having a rough time just before you dragged me off," she said and saw the look of pain on the maids face. She fell silent.

"She is not a well lady...she is going to die...look i have said enough already, she would not like me spreading this stuff to someone who barely knows her," the maid said as she made a sharp exit out of Buffy's room. Buffy sat on the bed for a while trying to collect her thoughts and stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks, but she couldn't. memories of her mother dying were making their way back to her and she couldn't handle it. _What is he going through? O h god no wonder Spike is always a grump _she thought and then she slipped on her nightgown and went to sleep.

The next morning dawn cracked and sunlight creeped in through the curtains in Buffy's room. She slowly fluttered her eyes open and rubbed them with a yawn. Her hair was a complete mess and she'd bet she looked a complete mess too so she decided to go find Mary. She found the maid tidying up one of the rooms. Buffy made her jump as she spoke.

"I...um wanted to say sorry for last night, it was rude of me to inquire about Mrs Thornton like that," she said shyly

Mary put her hand on her chest and smiled dimly.

" It is ok, i should not of reacted like that to you," she said

"Anyway, i was wondering, where is the bathroom around here? I was kind of hoping to get washed up," she asked

The maid put the stuff down neatly on the chair and walked out the room with the blonde.

"I will show you, fill the bath up, gather your thin-," the girl was interupted

"You don't have to do that for me," Buffy insisted

"But it is my duty to the household and it is what Mrs Thornton pays me for, so i will not take no for an answer!" she said jokingly

"Right ok, bossy much," she said

"Excuse me?" the maid asked puzzled

"Oh nothing, it is American slang," she said

The maid shook her head and took the slayer to the bathroom.

Downstairs, Mrs Thornton was pacing the room as William walked in. He looked concerned and stood in front of his mother stopping her in her tracks. He looked deep into her eyes.

"Mother, what is it?" he said with all of his fear showing

"Emily never returned home last night... what if something has got her? Oh i could not bear the thought," she said crying

"I know where she will be, I will not be long," he said then rushed out the door and towards Mr. Collins' house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Just a little authors note: thanks alot to all the people that have read this story so far and for your reviews, i have had writers block for a little bit but i promise i will sort the plot out for you. PLEASE keep reviewing:)**

**Patroling**

Everyone entered the Magic Box quickly. Spike ran out of the sunlight while Tara was shutting the blinds. Giles was frantically pacing the room trying to think of where to start and Dawn just sat at the table. Willow, Xander and Anya stood awaiting for Giles to speak.

"Tara and Willow get all the books that refer to time travel, diemensions...um portals and all that," the watcher said

The girls nodded and went off to get the book.

"Anya, get all the spell books that you can find," he continued

"Yes ok, but what are you going to do?" the demon asked

He moved his head towards Dawn and an 'O' forms on Anya's lips as he goes to sit by the teen. Giles rubbed her back gently and smiled grimly.

"Dawn...we will do everything we can to find out what has happened to her," he said softly

Dawn didn't reply. Dawn just sat there crying while he gently rocked her to sooth her. Spike was now in the training room. He was sat on the bench, cigarette in hand, fighting the temptation to cry. He was not going to give up on her, that was the last thing she needed. Buffy was out there and all they had to do was find her. He inhaled sharply and closed his eyes. Meanwhile, Tara and Willow were talking.

"Do you think she is ok?" Willow asked her girlfriend

"Y-Yes, Willow, Buffy is a strong person, wherever she is she will be fine," Tara said smiling

"But you heard what Anya said didn't you? she could be anywhere...maybe a hell diemenion or something, the sooner we find her the better," the witch babbled

Tara stroked Willow's head and sighed.

"Oh sweetie, i wish i knew where she was," she said sadly and they both gathered the books and headed back to the table.

By this time Spike had rejoined the gang and was sitting at the front of the shop, distancing himself from the others. He wasn't aware that Xander had joined him until he spoke.

"I don't particually like you," the carpenter said

"Like wise," came his reply

Xander sighed and ran his hand through his hair before speaking again.

"But...what you did for Dawn...for Buffy, that was amazing, i mean i'm not jumping up and down and saying we're busom buddies but i have respect for you now that i have never had, i just wanted to tell you that," he said

The vampire turned around to face the whelp and grinned as he took out his zippo and a cigarette.

"So, lets just go back to the normal 'We all hate Spike' club right?" he asked

"Yeah, if you feel that's better for you," he said walking away and shaking his head.

Night fall had come and Spike had decided to go on patrol. It gave him something to take his mind away from the situation. After they got back to the Magic Box, Spike couldn't help but notice how upset everyone was, he couldn't blame them really. They thought she was dead, but there was no body, so she can't be dead. The thing that surprised him was that Xander had come up to him and gave him this whole 'I respect you' speech even though he hates his guts. Spike played with the stake idly. Why was he so afraid of the blasted things? A vampire was trying to sneak from behind a crypt and to jump up behind Spike, but he wasn't as queit as he thought. Spike turned around to face the vampire and chuckled.

"Right, that was your BIG plan? Sneak up on old Spike and attack him? I think you either 1. You don't know who i am or 2. you've just got a sodding death wish," he said snarling at the vampire

The vampire ran towards Spike and he tripped him over and rolled his eyes.

"So what do you say? You wanna dance?" he asked the vampire starting his on slaught of kicks and punches. The vampire started throwing equal punches and kicks towards him, Spike blocking each one. He threw the vampire to the ground and plunged the stake into it. He put the stake in the back of his jeans and walked away un-aware that someone was watching him in the shaddows.


End file.
